1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to telecommunications and, in particular, to voice identification. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to billing a caller for use of an origin device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Telephone service has created communication channels worldwide, and those channels continue to expand with the advent of cellular and other wireless services. A person can simply take a telephone off-hook and dial a destination number or press a send button and be connected to a telephone line around the world.
Today, the public switching telephone network (PSTN), wireless networks, and private networks telephone services are based on the identification of the wireless telephone or wireline that a calling party uses. Services are personalized according to wireless telephone or wireline telephone number, where services associated with one telephone number are not accessible for another telephone number assigned to the same subscriber. For example, there is typically a first set of service features and billing options assigned to a home line number, a second set of service features and billing options assigned to an office line number, and a third set of service features and billing options assigned to a cellular telephone number. The networks process calls to and from each of these different subscriber telephones based on a separate telephone number.
One problem with personalizing services according to a line number is that a subscriber to the line number is billed for all services provided to the line number, regardless of who is actually utilizing the line number. In particular, where a wireline based telephone device associated with a particular line number is utilized by multiple people, the line subscriber will incur additional charges for those services that other callers utilize that are billed on a per use basis, such as long distance service.
While wireline service is typically billed at a flat rate for each month of use, use of a wireless service is typically billed at a rate for the actual use of a wireless service telephone device in placing and receiving calls. Charges associated with the actual use of a wireless service telephone device may include a charge per minute of use. In addition, use of a wireless device typically requires use of a battery resource.
Where a line subscriber loans a wireless service telephone device to a friend to place or receive a call, the line subscriber is also giving the cost of minutes used by the friend. Even though the friend may have a wireless service subscription, that subscription is not transferrable to the wireless telephone device. Further, the subscriber is giving the battery power resource utilized to power the telephone device and the time that subscriber could be using the wireless service telephone device.
Therefore, in view of the foregoing, it would be advantageous to provide a method, system, and program for billing for use of a wireless service telephone device according to the billing plan of the caller actually utilizing the wireless service telephone device. In addition, it would be advantageous to provide a method, system, and program for charging callers, other than the device owner, for use of a telephone device, including a charge for loss of time available for use of the telephone device, loss of battery power, and other usage that may be charged as a tariff for use of another's telephone device.